G E O G R A P H Y ofMali, impressed the Muslim world with his extravagant pilgrimage t0 Mecca in 1524. According [ 0 an Arab his- torian, his entourage included l()() camels, each carrying 3()() pounds ofgold; 500 slaves, each hoisting a staffofgold; and his wife with 5()() attendants. For himself, he brought along 14,()()() slave girls. He was so profligate during the journey, the value 0f gold dropped in Egypt. Mansa Musa poured hiS energy and devotlon 1ntO building his citles 1ntO centers Of lslamic learnmg. ln Timbuktu, a unlverslty was built in the viC1nity 0 「 three great 〃「 the 10Ca1 word for mosques. lts buildings, still standing today, are typical of African mosques ofthe Middle Ages. Made ofmud brick, they have flat, unadorned surfaces. Wooden beams protruding from exterlor walls support scaffolding when repairs are needed. ln the 12th century, 2 5 ,000 students attended the university. By the middle of the 16th century, more than 1 う () madrasas in the city of Timbuktu alone served other Africans eager to study the ur an and the hadith. Q When MusIims were moung into Africa, a large number ofthose living in Nubia and Ethiopia were devout Christians. lslam entered this region later and more SlOWly than North, 宅 s [ , and Central Africa. But DahIak Kebir, the largest island in the archipelago 0 today's Eritrea, in the Red Sea, became a Muslim stronghold. Slaves were moved out of Africa and into Arabia through this island; lslamic prayers and ideas moved in the other direction. Arab navigators established an lndian harbor that became Somalia's c 叩 ital city, Mogadishu. By the early 14 [ h cen- tury, lt was, according [ 0 one observer, an enormous town, itS inhabitants primarily merchants 、 VhO "have many camels , of which they slaughter hundreds every day for food. Visitors arriving by boat were met with the same hospitality typical of Arabians a millennium before. 'When a vessel reaches the port, it is met by sumbuqs, which are small boats, in each of which are a number of young men, each carrymg a covered dish containing fOOd. He presents this tO one 0 「 the merchants on the ship, say- . then sells his goods for him and ing This is my guest, O F R E L I G I O N buys for him, and ifanyone buys anything 伝 om him at t00 10W a price, or sells tO him in the absence 0f his hOSt, the sale is regarded by them as invalid. This practice is ofgreat advantage tO them. " This description comes from lbn Battuta, a 14th-century traveler whose pilgrimage to Mecca, 伝 om his Tangier birthplace in Morocco, turned into a 30- year JOLIrney. He iS considered the only person tO have VIS- ited all Muslim lands ofhis age. He left behind his R ノん / 4 , or 石 , , which offers fascinating insights into a broad world stretching 伝 om Constantinople to CeyIon, Mombasa to BeiJing. ln Mogadishu, he recounted a Friday visit to the mosque built by Fakhr ad-Din, the city's first sultan. He walked 伝 om the mosque to the palace with the sultan, whose head was shaded by slaves carryi ng 'four canopies of colored silk, each surmounted by a golden bird. Other Muslim explorers, sailing west from North Africa in 710, reached a rocky island in a crucial strait, the entrance 伝 0n1 the Atlantic Ocean tO the Mediterranean Sea. The next year a Berber Muslim, Tariq ibn Ziyad, led a force of thousands onto the island, claiming it for lslam. Called Jabal Tariq, Tariq's Mountain, the name soon elided into Gibraltar. Spain was only a short sail away. SiJilmasa—Rissani, Morocco, today—、 vas a key oaSIS and market town, the northern distribution center for West African gold. MusIim factions fought over it for cen- turies. ln 1054 , it was conquered by an lslamic Berber tribe, the Almoravids, 往 om the lands now called Mauritan1a. From Sijilmasa they launched campalgns into Spain. Their tribal name, shortened tO 'Moor, ' became the moniker in Christian Europe for a11 Muslims, and especially for the Muslim culture that flourished in southern Spain. T H E M I D D L E E A S T F R O M T H E I R first travels out ofArabia, Muslims sought tO move north. Early outings in the seventh century saw migrations and battles through Palestine and int0 Syria. The city 0fConstantinople glowed before them, a citadel ofsize and magnificence. Christian1ty was the religion 0 「 power, 368

G E O G R A P H Y great natlon, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing … and in thee shall allthe fam ilies of the earth be blessed. " Canaan was the land into which Abraham was called—the western reach of the Fertile Crescent, stretching along the Mediterranean coast and east to the Jordan River and the inland Sea of Galilee. Canaan was the only hospitable passage between the two powerful civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia; it also bore its own fruitful harvests: wheat and barley, dates and pistachios, and a dye of royal purple derived from 川” seashells. ln Canaan's Shechem—the city of Nablus today—God spoke again to Abraham, confirming that he was in the Promised Land. Abraham built an altar there and another on a hill nearby. HiS travels tOOk him intO Egypt and back again, intO territorial negotiations, and into battle, all at places that can be pinpointed on a map of the modern Middle East. God assured him that his progeny would be numer- ous as the stars in heaven, and eventually Abraham saw the birth ofa great number ofsons—lshmael, by Hagar, his wife Sarah's handmaid; lsaac, miraculously, by Sarah, who had passed childbearing age; and six more by a later wife, Keturah. Two of Abraham's sons played important roles. lshmael would later come to g10 in the tradition oflslam, revered one in the line ofprophets leading [ 0 Muhammad the Prophet of lslam and founder of the first lslamic com- munity. lsaac was taken by Abraham [ 0 a mountaintop in "the land ofMoriah," following God's command. There, the father dutifully prepared the body of his young son to be burnt on a sacrificial altar. An angel stopped Abraham just before he completed the deed. His willingness was proof enough t0 G0d 0f his devotion. Jews ever S1nce have heard in the dramatic story Of lsaac the features that distingcush their one God 伝 om others worshiped i n those times. This God talked with Abraham promising the possibility ofa directly personal relationship, and valued interior devotl()ns over out 、 ()fferings.. AS a O F R E L I G I O N physical mark 0f the covenant between humankind and GOd, Abraham's male descendants were reqult•ed tO be cir- cumcised. Through a series ofappearances, GOd consecrated the land of Canaan. Haran , Shechem , Negev, Bethel, Hebron —in all these places, God appeared [ 0 Abraham, assuring hlm that this was his Promised Land. Finally, God singled out Mount Moriah the place on which Abraham should make his ultimate show offaith. Abraham's sacramental act was the first Of countless more tO be performed on the mountaln ln the middle of the ci ty that would become JerusaIem. lt would be impossible to pin down accurate his- torical analogues for every detail in the life of Abraham and hiS descendants. Memories traditions pre- served orally, then collected and written down by differ- ent chroniclers and JOined, according tO some V1ews, intO a single text many centuries later. Scholars see evidence ln several literary sources for these early biblical books. These strands coalesce in their portrayal 0f Abraham as a monotheist: a person WhO believes ln one GOd tO the exclusion of a11 others. Abraham had traveled out of Sumer, where local deities were worshiped, and through Canaan, where the god Baal symbolized the cycle of the seasons in hiS annual death and resurrectlon. Just as Abraham traveled from Ur through Canaan and into the Promised Land, so he also moved from a region 0 日 ocal deities, through a culture With a relgning male weather god, and int0 a land 0f one G0d, not attached to natural forces but transcendent in power. M O S E S A N D T H E 旧 X O D U S I S A A C ' S S O N Jacob had a dozen sons, who are taken to represent the Twelve Tribes of lsrael. Jacob himself was renamed lsrael by GOd in one Ofa series ofencounters. After a lifetime of conflict and migration, Jacob journeyed with his family t0 Egypt t0 escape a famine. Out of that setting emerged the next great JewiSh patriarch: Moses. oppo : A 12 坊ーリ″ / ″ノ〃ノん訪″ z げ 4 〃 , ん畩い A 房勗 m 〃の / んル 4 勗 / 〃ぬな C ん云〃衂 4 〃ノむん 206

G E 0 G R A P H Y made a decade or two later during the reign ofthe great klng Kanishka were imprinted with standing or seated figures of the Buddha. Only five of these rare copper coins are known tO exist. They are believed [ 0 have been issued in honor ofthe stupa built by Kanishka near Peshawar and are the only coins ever to bear an image of the Buddha. The earliest statues of the Buddha come 伝 om the Central Asian kingdom ofGandhara during the second and third century A. D. Far from the prototype of the Buddha that one sees tOday, some Of these statues 100k 1 ore like the Greek god Apollo , wi th fine lips and wavy hai r that reveal lasting Hellenistic influences in this region. While statues ofthe B uddha eventually became important i n the practice of the religion, such was not always the case. The lintel of Sanchi's Eastern Gate, dated to 5 0 B. C. , shows the central horse protected by a parasol but riderless. Symbols, such as footprints or the parasol, represented the Buddha, but his bodi ly presence was conceived as beyond both human sight and draftsmanship. Over tlme, depictions of the Buddha began t0 appear ⅲ paintings and sculpturaltableaux rep- resenting his li story. The physical representation of the Buddha continued as a point for debate between the two branches of Buddhism, the early Theravadan orthodox regarding images 0f the Buddha to be sacrilege. (M0dern Theravadans do not hold this belief. ) Mahayana tradition held Buddha images to be appropriate, even necessary, objects for focused meditation. A rhetoric 0f the Buddha's proportions and dress developed, along With an extenslve vocabulary 証 symbolic body and hand positions. As the practice 0fBuddhism spread, images ofthe Buddha acquired character1stICS specific tO each new locale. A fantastic blend of Theravada and Mahayana aes- thetics—and a glimpse into the remarkable lives ofthe early Buddhist monks—can be found in the monastic cave com- plexes carved intO the mountainsides Of the Western GhatS. Cave sites at Ajanta near Aurangabad, like the nearby Hindu and Jain cave site at Ellora—alI not one hundred miles apart—glve evidence ()f W()t•k over centuries. about the first century B. C. through the sixth century O F R E L I G I O N A. D. , Buddhist monks turned layers of granite, gneiss, and basaltic lava into labyrinthine temples with hundreds of sculptural figures populating their walls. They used techniques that historlans can only guess at tO carve out pillared assembly halls with intrrcate vaulted ceilings, meditation cells , and devotional shri nes and figurines inside and OL1t. Twenty-nine caves constltute the AJanta complex alone. Bas-relief sculptures and painted images animate many 0f the walls inside. Art historians have analyzed the techmques used for these pamtings, S01 e tWO thousand years old. The artlsans applied a mixture ofmud and cow dung, bound with straw or hair, then whitewashed it with gyp- sum or lime plaster [ 0 create a uniform paintlng surface. The older cave paintings, dated 伝 om 1 ()() to 250 A. D. , were painted according [ 0 the Theravada ethic, using symbolic and natural motifs wi thout portraying the B uddha's person. ln the majority ofthe caves, though, paintings dating from う ()0 [ 0 6 う () A. D. tell the life story of the Buddha, culmi- nating in a figure 2() feet long, reclining in death and preparing for the ultimate passage intO mrvana. Not all Buddhist monks secluded themselves in caves. 気 h the patronage the Gupta dynasty from the fourth century on, Buddhist umversl tles—busy centers Of research , writing, and debate—developed in lndia. The great edu- cational institutlon at Nalanda, ten miles downstream from Pataliputra on the Ganges, is often called the world's first unlversity. Ruins testify tO the vast scale of the place and the work that went on there. The complex covers almost 55 acres and includes the red-brick Of monasteries, temples, and stupas set among courtyards and gardens. Monastery buildings, laid out on a north-south axis, fOllOW a similar pattern: an outer square Of single cells that open intO a courtyard surrounding a central shrine. A seventh-century firsthand account Of life at Nalanda helps bring the scene [ 0 li : 'There were many courtyards.. . Precious terraces spread like stars and jade pavilions were spired like peaks. The temple arose intO the mists and the shrine halls stood high above the clouds. Streams Of blue water wound 1 ) 2

C H R I S T I A N I T Y : A N A F F A I R O F T H I N G S ー - R O B E R T L O U I S 、 / ・ I L K E N , U 〃 , げりツ - g ノ〃レ periOd Of prayer and meditation IS an oasis Of solitude and serenity, a time for centering of thoughts and feelings as I lean intO the tasks before 1 e. Morning Prayer, however, is not simply an act Of private devotlon , an occa- sion for 1 e tO speak tO God and listen for God's voice. The words of the psalm are "let C01 月 e intO HiS presence. " Thus as I offer my prayers I become part Of a vast company all over the world offering praise and thanksgivi ng ・ Sunday is a differ- ent experience. On the first day of the week, the day of Christ's Resurrection, Christians come together tO cele- brate Christ's presence in the Eucharist. Here the setting IS communal and SOCial, the mood JOYOLIS and festive. The Eucharist is divided into two parts. The first includes prayer, praise, and instruction. lts high point iS the reading Ofa selection from one Ofthe four Gospels, ancient accounts of the life and teaching 0fJesus 0f Nazareth, fol- 1() 、 ved by a sermon or homily, an exposltion Ofwhat was read and an exhortatlon [ 0 imltate those noble things. TH E R H Y T H M ofmy life a Christian is set by two prac- tices, the daily reading of the Psalms and weekly partici- pation in the Church's offering to G0d, variously called the Eucharist, the Mass, the Divine Liturgy, the Lord's Supper. on ar1S1ng each morning the first thing I do (before havi ng a cup of tea and reading the news- paper) is recite Morning Prayer, or "lauds" as it used [ 0 be called from the Latin / 〃″ノ〃 r ら tO praise. Morning Prayer begins with Psalm 9 う , openlng with, 'O come let us S1ng to the Lord, let us make a joyful noise tO the rock Of our salvation, let us come ln [ 0 His presence with thanksgiving ・ Whatever my mood on awaking, whatever thoughts may exerclse 1 月 y mind or cares weigh heavy on my heart my day always begins with songs ofpraise [ 0 G0d. Contrary [ 0 popular conception, prayer iS most rewarding when habitual. The repetltion each morning of the phrase "let us come intO HiS presence with thanksgiving puts 1 e ln mind that I begin the day in the presence of God and bids me con- secrate what I will do to the service of God. For me this す 遥 ) ハ : ルクら坊ー化〃り , ″読〃 4 川 0 〃 as たリ , & 、 / い化ん分 4 たんん 4 S 〃げ功 his D ゆな .

H I N D U I S M T H E H I N D U WA Y O F L I F E T H E V E D A S explained the unlverse in terms ofa grand cosmic sacrifice. When the creator god Purusha, "all that yet hath been and a11 that is to be," was sacrificed, the world of things came forth. This great event resulted in the creation Of all animals. Different parts Of the sacrificed body became parts ofthe visible world: The moon came 伝 om Purusha's mind, the sun 伝 om his eye, the sky 仔 om his head, and the earth 伝 om his e [. According to this hymn, the four fundamental constituents Of the Hindu class system that would for centuries characterize Hinduism and lndian cul- ture also emerged as a result of the sacrifice. When they divided Purusha , how many portions did they make? H01y scripture thereby decreed thatthere was a hier- archy among ople. An individual was born into one offour classes or 24 〃 4 工 , a sanskrit word meaning bOth "class' and " C010r , " which has led some scholars to suggest that age- 01d racial distinctions underlie lndia's ancient caste system, but this view is under challenge. Brahmans, or prlests, knew the Vedas , people along the Ganges performed house- hold sacrifices at each turning of the season. The Ganges provided water for crop irrigation but also for drinking, cooking, bathing, laundering—without the river, there would not 反 life. The cleansing ofthe body in the river grew beyond a mundane daily obligation into a sacred ritual still performed today. Ⅳん功り″ his ん、「 4 Ⅳん功り / / ん』功なんノ et? The B な〃ルの his 砒イんェ肭 was / ん R 4 り 4 ー K 「んなのん / んみ 4 ルの 0 ノノ made up the highest varna. Agni, representing fire and sac- rifice, was their special god. Brahmans conducted religious rituals, received sacrificial gifts on behalf of the gods, and shared their knowledge of the Vedas. Born to a life of responsibili ty and privilege , the ancient B rahmans traveled from place to place or attached themselves to wealthy households. There were no designated places worship , but simple shrines, designating holy ground, often developed intO the hub Ofthe community.. Rock-cut sanctuaries in caves followed. Public shrines and household altars could be quite simple, always including some lingam, or symbolic focalcenter. The tradition ofthe lingam probably took root in a time Of phallocentric worship. The word can mean phallus," and S01 月 e ancient artifacts are appropriately shaped. lt can also mean sign or "symbol," and in Hindu practice over the centuries, the lingam evolved intO a n10n0 ー lithic rounded shaft set into a cradle, male and female combined, associated with the life-giving force 0f the god Shiva. An entlre repert()ire ofvariatlons in SIZe, material, and ornamentation has evolved through time, and the lingam remains the focal point in daily worship, or 第 4 , ofa devo- tee of Shiva. On a family altar today, as in a household of the peri()d, stone serve. The next highes t varna, the Kshatriyas ()r Raj anyas) , were the men born tO be warriors and nobility, specially linked to the god lndra. By the middle of the first millen- nium B. C. , many small kingdoms and even a few republics had developed along the Ganges Valley. Wealth, status , and religious favor went hand in hand. As a member 0f the Kshatriya class garnered 1 れ ore PO ℃ r , he Often contributed c 叩 ital t0 build a shrine or temple, thus gaining not only the goodwill of the gods but also of the priests in attendance. Riverbank cities flourished, chief among them Varanasi. Situated on an ausp1Cious riverbend, thiS anclent Hindu city has gone by many other names: Kashi, "city of light,' or Anandavana, "forest of bliss," in early times; oppo 旺 . ・ノな g 4 ル衂〃な加「功んツ〃 g 4 〃〃 / アルん々ア初ノ〃 g た g ん脚イ / 〃ノル : ルげ〃りは . 仞 0 旧 NG 例 G ハ : C 侃の一げノ加〃初ノーな〃 0 た加なル肭川ル g 加ノ 4 ん〃 g / な , 4 た〃 2 第んんり〃 4 〃な川ノ / ん Ga 〃 g い .

B U D D H I S M By the beginning of the first century, these philo- sophical distinctions had become varlous sch001s 0f thought with differing bodies 0 「 scripture as the basis for their study, although there are many basic ideas held i n common : the Buddha as founder and foundation ofthe religion, the Four Noble Truths , the E ightfold Path , and the importance 0f a rigorous mental discipline. What began as a philo- sophical distinction became a geographical one. Theravada Buddhism, for example, predominates in Sri Lanka and the Southeast Asian countries of Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Camb0dia, whereas Mahayana Buddhism predominates in Tibet, Bhutan, and NepaI, in China and Taiwan, and in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. This division has led t0 the shorthand nomenclature designating Theravada Buddhism as southern" and Mahayana as northern. T H E P 1 0 U S K I N G THE GEOGRAPHICAL spreadofBuddhisminlndia owes much to an unlikely figure. Ashoka, the king ofthe Mauryan Empire, which had succeeded the Magadhan kingdom of the Buddha's day, was born in 504 B. C. , one of the several grandsons of Chandragupta, first emperor of the realm. Ashoka was ruthless to his brothers, so the records suggest, and killed several 0f them t0 attain his father's throne. He led fierce warrlors into battle and in 262 B. C. he conquered KaIinga—now called Orissa—adding the fertile delta land to his territory. Apparently the scenes of violence and sufferi ng on the battlefield made a profound impression on him, for after the war he embraced Buddhism with passion. For the remaining 30 years ofhis li , his drive tO conquer territory turned intO zeal for spreading Buddhism. He left a legacy across central lndia in the form of dozens of stone pillars inscribed with edicts to a11 the people in his newly expanded realm. "AII men are my children," reads one pillar erected in Kalinga. What I desire for my own children, and I desire their welfare and h 叩 piness both in this world and the next, that I desire for all men. " Ashoka's edicts, some ofthem also carved into cliffsides , can be found 伝 om one end of lndia to the other. Atop many Ashokan pillars stood four roar- ing lions facing north, south, east, and 、 vest, the image that now symbolizes the lndian nation—fitting because, under Ashoka, Buddhism had become the foundation for civi- lization, linking religion and state. Emperor Ash0ka built many stupas—by then, mon- umental buildings, not JLISt stones piled on top of soil. Tradition has it that during thiS massive constructlon effort, Ashoka removed the eight portions Of the remalns of Buddha 伝 om their sanctuaries and divided them many more times, scattermg them throughout his empire. For each relic, he built a stupa. On a gentle hilltop west oftoday's Bhopal in central lndia, for example, Ashoka built eight stupas, including the core of the building that evolved into the Great Stupa of Sanchi. The outer skin of the Great Stupa, a dome measuring 120 feet in diameter, dates from about 150 B. C. Like other sophisticated stupas Of that era, it includes a walkway around the dome and a stairway [ 0 a 47 ア万ん 4 , or square platform, on tOP. FrOI 月 the harmika ascends a 4 なな , a multileveled parasol, pointing to the sky. Carvings decorate the four gateways to the stupa. Those ofearlier vintage, up t0 the first century B. C. do not represent the Buddha in human form. Symbols pre- dominate: the lotus, symbol of his birth; the parasol, symbol of his missionary travels; the wheel, symbol of his teachings; the tree, symbol 0f his enlightenment; and the footprint, symbol ofhis presence in the world. Ashokan stupas have been found in Shravasti, Sarnath, Lumbini, and on the island of Sri Lanka. Others may yet be discov- ered. A new central lndian site unearthed in 1999 in Deorkothar, for example, included four brick stupas of the Ash0kan era, 30 stone stupas, and monastic buildings. Ashoka hosted a Third Buddhist Council, from WhiCh he sent m1SS10nar1es in all directions, spreading the word. Some traveled up the tributaries of the Ganges and across the passes Of the Himalaya intO central ASia, planti ng the seeds 0f bel ief that would flower centuries later in Buddhist centers such as Bamiyan, Afghanistan. Some 149

J U D A I S M According to the Book Exodus, G0d appeared t0 Moses most likely lived during the time of Ramses Moses in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. Ⅱ , the pharaoh who reigned in Thebes 伝 om 1279 [ 0 12 い B. C. E. Ramses' reign was a time ofabundance, with great (Scholars inclined tO a non-literal interpretation have tried building projects. He had grandiose temples and statues tO name the exact species. Candidates include Z ノ ) 第み〃 S erected, honoring gods and the pharaoh as if one and the 訪所〃 , the jujube of Africa and the Middle East, same. TO accomplish his ambitious architectural efforts whose bittersweet red fruit is dried and milled intO flour, and ん併〃功〃』 4C4 膨クど , a red-flowered parasite that attaches Ramses conscripted thousands Of laborers, enslaving the descendants ofJacob and his sons. One tO acacia shrubs. Or, as the monks Of St. document Of the time records graln Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai believe, provisions for the 第ア・一一 shor [ for it may have been the R 〃ろ〃け 4 , the a-pi-ru—whose j0b it was t0 haul holy raspberry, whose ripe fruit and stones tO build a massive gate- late foliage do glow as if aflame. ) From out of the burning way. The Egyptian ツー加ー , bush , God spoke to Moses , iden- some linguists have suggested, tifying himself as the God of is related to the word 〃 source for our word " Hebrew. Abraham, lsaac, and Jacob: "I have surely seen the affliction Of Moses iS said tO have been found as an infant in a basket, my people that are in Egypt.. among rushes growmg in the I am come down tO deliver them Nile River wetlands. Adopted out of the hand of the Egyptians , by the pharaoh's daughter, he and t0 bring them up out of that was born a slave but raised in a land unto a go land and a large [one], unto a land flowing with royal household. Early on, Moses took risks milk and honey. ' At God's com- that revealed either ethlcal prin- mand, Moses returned to Egypt ciples or Hebrew affinities or to lead the Hebrews into the both: Seeing one of the land promised once to Abraham pharaoh's men beating a and now again through Moses Hebrew worker, he rescued his kinsman—in the words Of to his descendants, the "children of lsrael. " the Book of Exodus, he "smote the Egyptian and hid him Many routes have been sketched [ 0 ShOW hOW Moses led his people out of Egypt. Where, for example, did in the sand. " TO escape punishment, Moses fled into the "land Of Midian' —in the northwestern corner ()f the Arabian Moses command a passageway through a b(kly ofwater so that Peninsula along the Gulf of Aqaba. He traveled 伝 om the several thousand people could traverse it, then recompose the landscape to 応 il pursumg Egyptian chariots? An early city ofexcesses [ 0 the countryside, becommg a stranger ln mistranslation Of the Hebrew term ) , 4 〃 / "reed sea, a strange land. " There he lived the li of a shepherd until into the Greek 町功功 4 ル 4 , "red sea," finessed the whole God, whom he called Yahweh, [ 01d him to do otherwise. ABOVE.• A ル 0 読翔た〃行イ A 房 4 んル々ルみいんれなクノん加 N 4 〃ノ 4 〃訪い加脚 / 夫 c 4 〃ノ / 訪 44 0 旧 NG 例 G 暦 : A B ノ。″ g 加語 / 加 / い切 / g 〃〃 4 着れツ / 翔〃な″〃訪 4 〃 g ノ行川。 4 〃ノ / んむなノ秀り E 川 15 1 権 HO 戸昨 7 NOaH 209

G E O G R A P H Y O F R E L I G I O N water rests belOW her and falls upon her, like river and rain. ln the creatlon myth told among the Pima lndians of Other Hindu myths 伝 om the Vedas—ancientsacred texts— the southwestern United States , prlmeval man emerged out of darkness to make the earth and the heavens. He put his tell ()fthe cosmic giant Purusha whose dismemberment and sacrifice gave r1Se tO all creatlon. hand intO his heart and drew out a stone, then divided the ln the Kimberley region of northwestern AustraIia, the stone into pebbles and tossed them into the sky [ 0 light Unumbal people told a myth about how their rugged, the darkness. Wanting the world even brighter, he drew rocky landscape got its water. Their cosmos began with a another rock 伝 om his heart and made the MiIky み ay. sky god, Wallanganda, their name for the galaxy we now At the Other extreme,Kung Bushmen in Botswana saw callthe MiIky Way, and an earth god, Ungud, who took the falling stars as gifts from the great god who had ordered form of a great snake. Wallanganda things at the very beginning. This scattered water on the earth; Ungud god continued [ 0 give gifts to believ- deepened it. They slept, and out of ers: ostrich eggs, bees and honey, their dreams arose the creatures that giraffes, aardvarks, b100d , the sun, inhabit the earth. ln the watery depths , and especially the medicine songs Ungud discovered Wandjina, spirit- uttered ceremonially by tribal healers. forms with wide, hollow eyes, long The Kung named the power in all arms, and no mouths. When they these gifts 〃 They could not pray emerged 伝 om underwater, they spread for or t0 ntum, though. ln the human across the land, forming the hills and realm, they associated it with death plains and refreshing them with falling and fighting. Only a select few, the rain. Then the Wandjina lay down on healers among them, could C01 e intO certaln rocks in the landscape, leaving contact with ntum. their impressl()ns tO watch over lakes r1Vers, and sprlngs. ln a cave near a gorge formed by a tributary 0f the Chapman River, a vast tableau 0f red and black rock paintings of these and Other fantastic figures was discovered in the 1950s. ArchaeoIogists estimate them [ 0 be 17,()()0 years old. The Haida people, of the Queen Charlotte lslands in the Canadian province ofBritish Columbia, [ 00k the oppo- site position on the creation ofthe world. They believed the umverse began with water, as t()ld in the story 0 「 Raven, He-Whose-Voice-Is-Obeyed: 'Notlong ago, there wms no land to 反 seen. Then there was a little thing on the ocean, the rest was all open sea. Raven sat upon this little thing. Become dust!' he said, and it became the earth. P R O P I T I A T I N G T H E G O D S T H R 0 U G H R E L I G I O N , human beings established a relationship with the gods they named and envisioned within the powerful forces the landscape. ln prayer and ritual , they communicated wi th their gods , hopi ng thereby tO Win their blessings and gain some control over the nat- ural envlronment. ln modern tlmes, t00 , although SCience has discovered much about natural phenomena, in every cor- ner of the planet, at every moment 0f the day, millions 0f people are at prayer or attending religious services, seeking divine intervention in the workings Of the weather, and in the health, safety and happiness ofliving creatures, animal and human. 26

S E E I N G T H E D I V I N E M O S T H I N D U families make r00n1 for an altar in their home where they per 応 rm 第〃ノ , or wor- ship. There a statue or image ofa special household god is surrounded by depictions ofother deities, samts, gurus, or ancestors. A pitcher ofwater, incense, a bell, and a 1a1 p or candle are at the ready. The family brings offerings of flowers, fruit, and food—especially 勗 a sweet, spicy rice ball—to t he altar. Once a day, the family gathers there. The head of the household rings the bell, lights the incense, and requests the deity [ 0 descend intO their presence. Feeling the god's presence ln the central statue, the 〃 2 ”〃 , is called ハん〃ッ , seeing the divine. Then the family lights the lamp or candle and passes it before the deity in praise. They ShOW consideration for the divine presence by washing the statue, clothing it anew, presenting their gifts, and offering 応 od and water. When the deity has partaken of the offering, the family shares the food, called 第 . Hindus may visit a temple for puja to magnify their tribute to a deity. ln so doing, they gain karma, or merlt, and hope for a better afterlife. Underlying a Hindu temple's design is the idea that, with each step, a person progresses intO a sacred space, moving further away fr()l every- day illusions and deeper 1n [ 0 the ultimate reality of the divine. Passi ng through an archway adorned with scenes of Hindu myths and historical events, worshipers enter a square, pillared hallway, often used during festivals for dancing and singing. They proceed into the small, dark g 励〃ー g ルん 4 , or womb chamber, the sanctuary, where the temple murti iS enshrined. The resident god might be Shiva, Vishnu, or Shakti, Hinduism's three central deities, or a god worshiped locally. After offering gifts to the god, which the priest delivers,the worshipers maintain a prayerful state Of mind as they circumambulate the inner chamber clockwise. One or more priests live in a HindL1 temple, caring for the murti and assisting worshipers. Unlike a household murti, the temple statue is the god's permanent dwelling place. lt is installed with anclent rites Of honorific cleansing, culminatlng with the recitation Of a mantra, a sacred incantation, praying that the breath Of life infuse the statue. PriestS perform PLIJa at sunrise, noon, sunset, and midnight to create a hospitable dwelling place for the god. The same ritual acts form the basis of all Hindu puja. By summomng, pralsing, and giving gifts t0 a god or goddess, Hindus connect with the divine.

G E O G R A P H Y also recognized "one holy catholic and 叩 ostolic Church' known by its practice Of "one baptism for the rem1SSion Of S1ns," and united in the belief that Jesus Will return [ 0 the earth fr()l れ heaven and oversee resurrectlon Of the dead, and the li 証 the world to come. By the end 0fConstantine's li in 557 A. D. , a num- ber ofChristian practices had been established that still are followed. Sunday, the first day of the week, was identified as the Lord's Day. On that day Christians gather at their houses ofworship for prayer, a reading ofScripture, and the ceremony 0f the Eucharist, the solemn partaking 0f bread and wine that recalls Christ's sacrifice, death, and Resurrection. The attitude in prayer was discussed by bish- OPS during Constantine S time, some favoring a kneeling posture with hands folded, and others, a standing position with arms outstretched, mirroring Jesus on the cross. The focal point of each church was the altar: a central table for elements Of the Eucharist and Other ritual necessitles. Worshipers enter a church With reverence, f()t• it iS consid- ered the dwelling place G . Special gestures ofChristian blessing developed. The sign of the cross, traced with the right hand, could be conferred by a priest on a worshiper in blessing or could be traced on one s own upper body in devotion. This practice, in place as early as 200 A. D. was often performed in daily life as a call for G0d's help. ln all but the 1 れ OSt nontraditional churches, a cross hangs above the altar. Catholic crosses include a depiction Of the crucl- fied body of Jesus, whereas Protestant churches simply display a cross. The Roman Church developed the practice Of counting prayers ln meditation with appeals [ 0 the Virgin Mary and the recitation of the Lord's Prayer, by means 0f a string 0 「 beads, called a rosary. Monks in the Greek Orthodox Church similarly counted genuflections and signs Of the cross on a rope with a hundred knots. The sacred act 0 「 baptism with holy water by a min- ister ofthe church brought an individual into the 応 ld and conferred the blessings of God and Jesus. Only those who had been baptized could be "saved," or gathered by Jesus intO heaven after death. 宅 indeed descend intO the water 0 F R E L I G I O N full ()f sins and defilement,' wrote a second-century Christian, "but come up, bearing fruit in our heart, having the fear [of God] and trust in Jesus in our spirit. ' Many people believed that baptism should occur as early in li as possible, tO ensure salvation ln case Of an early death. According to Hippolytus, a third-century Roman pres- byter, a person should stand nude for baptism. Early churches Often included baptisterles, rooms with built-in tubs that held enough water tO immerse a person. Prior [ 0 b 叩 tism, the presiding bishop asked the candidate, 'Do you believe i n God the Father Almighty to which the response was "l believe. " Fr()I れ these early baptisms came another statement faith, the Apostles' Creed. Christmas confirmed church-wide as a sacred holiday in the fourth century. NO one was sure of the date ofJesus' birth. Western Christians celebrated the day in late December, already a festival time among pagans marking the increase Of daylight after the winter SOlStice. Eastern Christians celebrated 12 days later. Some early Egyptian Christians wanted [ 0 observe the day in the spring. ln compromise, Christmas was set on December 2 う and Epiphany 12 days later, on January 6 , celebrating the arrival of three kings to worship the newborn Jesus. Plays tO reenact the mysteries ofJesus' birth were performed at Christmastime in Europe in the Middle Ages and represent an lmportant early stage in the history ofdrama. From them, Chri stmas carols—songs bOth serious and j oyous—evolved. Once Easter was fixed according [ 0 the n100n phase, other observances Ⅱ into place and developed over the cen- turies. The 40 days before Easter Sunday, a period called Lent, originally were a time ofpreparation for b 叩 tism. They have evolved intO a periOd offasting and repentance, recall- ing Jesus' 4() days in the wilderness. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, a date Christians ()bserve with servlces, when they receive the mark Ofthe cross made with ashes on their forehead, as a sign humility. ln Catholic regions of France, Germany, ltaly, the Caribbean, and Latin America, a carnival celebration occurs just before the beginning Of Lent, climaxing in Mardi Gras, a day and night of revelry. 284